How To Become A Pet Caretaker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a pet caretaker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Yvette Gonzales

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a pet caretaker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.65 an hour? That's $30,478 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 28% and produce 101,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a pet caretaker?

Yvette Gonzales

Immediate Past President, National Association of Professional Pet Sitters

In this year of Covid-19, the pet care industry has taken a hit. Since pet care services are provided in-person, travel restrictions and the movement to work from home has changed the face of how our business is done. Meet and greets, which are normally done in person, may now first be done via a Zoom conference, and dog walks are now initiated via porch or driveway pick up. The lack of business and recreational travelers has very much put a halt to long trips for clients, so the pet sitting portion of businesses has come to mostly a standstill. Once the world begins to travel again, our business will see a boom as clients are anxious to get back out and travel the world, this will mean our industry will see an increase in new hires, it's also believed that many new businesses will form, as those who lost their jobs during the pandemic may now turn into entrepreneurs. Grads entering the workforce pre-vaccination will find the opportunities in pet care to be limited; however, if the desire to begin a new business venture is still appealing, now is the perfect time to get organized, begin to market their business, and be assured they won't be immediately overwhelmed with clients. It's good to begin slowly so that when the rush begins everything will operate like a finely tuned machine.
Technology has allowed pet sitters to advance their skills online as well as stay in touch with clients and colleagues this trend will continue post Covid. GPS and online scheduling programs allow for pet parents to easily book services, as well as track their sitters/pets' movements, allowing for greater ease of service and peace of mind.

ScorePet CaretakerUS Average

Salary

2.4

Avg. Salary $30,478

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 28%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.49%

Asian 2.68%

Black or African American 4.45%

Hispanic or Latino 18.07%

Unknown 6.45%

White 67.86%

Gender

female 70.57%

male 29.43%

Age - 29

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 29

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a pet caretaker

Explore pet caretaker education requirements

Most common pet caretaker degrees

Bachelor's

52.2 %

Associate

22.4 %

High School Diploma

18.0 %

Start to develop specific pet caretaker skills

Skills	Percentages
PET	80.33%
Administer Medications	6.73%
Facility Laundry	2.93%
Coats	1.89%
Food Intake	1.88%

Complete relevant pet caretaker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New pet caretakers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a pet caretaker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real pet caretaker resumes.

Research pet caretaker duties and responsibilities

Achieve detailed grooming including skin, ear, nail care, coat clips and dental care.
Walk/Exercise dogs and clean up after them (pet messes, spil food or water, clean kennels )
Provide daily pet care to animals, including: walking, grooming, trips to veterinarian, overnight care.
Assist in answering customer questions regarding grooming, scheduling grooming appointments and maintaining salon cleanliness and safety.

Prepare your pet caretaker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your pet caretaker resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a pet caretaker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable pet caretaker resume templates

Build a professional pet caretaker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your pet caretaker resume.